Microsoft’s answer to Google Glass is being tested

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It looks like Google is about to see more competition in the wearable space, perhaps even before Glass is available to consumers. The new challenger is Microsoft, and apparently the company is already testing prototypes internally.

Google’s wearable face computer is widely known and recognized, but it is far from a consumer product yet. There’s wide speculation regarding the actual consumer product launch for Google Glass, but very few details have been confirmed regarding a final design, price, or even when the hardware would be available on shelves. Google has been able to keep people talking about its tech by inviting over 10,000 developers and enthusiasts to participate in a very public and very expensive explorer program, as well as hosting demo stations around the US for people to try the hardware out for themselves. It’s unlikely that anyone else will be so public with their hardware and software development, which is one of many reasons that it is unsurprising to hear about Microsoft planning to enter the wearable space.

Earlier this year Microsoft gathered patents for a computer in the shape of a pair of glasses with a camera module in the middle of the frame. While Microsoft owning a patent isn’t necessarily indicative of hardware in development, the information was coupled by a report that the Redmond company was working on their own wearable computer. Over the last year Microsoft has shown quite a bit of enthusiasm when it came to designing their own hardware with the Surface, and now it looks like the company is in the middle of acquiring parts and prototyping their own face computer.

A report from the Wall Street Journal claims Microsoft has been reaching out to suppliers for the parts needed to assemble various prototypes for a wearable computer in the shape of a pair of glasses. This doesn’t mean that the company is anywhere near ready to release a product, but a previous tip from a similarly nameless source pointed to a 2014 launch if Microsoft decided the product was worth pursuing.

Microsoft is also now the owner of Nokia, who among other things has been working on wearable prototypes of their own. Given the exceptional design quality Nokia has demonstrated in the past, and their intense focus on screen and camera quality, it wouldn’t be hard to imagine Microsoft tapping this new talent pool to see a wearable computer enter the market sometime next year.